In the early seventies, Judy and Terry Maxey moved to Pontotoc and bought (or built) a house with a few acres of land near the Damuth property south of Pontotoc. The Maxeys were soon involved members of First Baptist Church. Terry and I were in the same Sunday School Class and quickly became friends. Judy was busy kept busy with the twins, Tracy and Stacy, who were, according to some sources, little holy terrors.I don’t remember whose idea it was to start a card club, but I remember the Maxeys, Prewetts, Huddlestons, Weatherlys, Bighams, and the Carters comprised the newly formed social club. We rotated host homes on a monthly basis, and we always enjoyed a meal in the host home prior to getting down to playing a friendly game of cards.
We never wagered on the games we played, but sometimes the spirit of competitiveness bordered on hostility. I know Judy and I butted heads on more than one occasion. I possess an argumentative nature, and there were times when I felt I had met my match in Judy Maxey. We never left a card game mad at each other, but one might have cut the tension in the air with a knife.
It was the fun times we had more so than any of the card games played that kept me looking forward to the next monthly meeting. As our children were birthed and grew, each of the couples in the club found it more difficult to squeeze in a Friday night once a month for our gatherings. The Bighams relocated, and we tried out several couples, including the Winstons and the Palmertrees. The once childless Huddlestons somehow managed to bring a son into the world before our card club split.
For Judy, the twins were still being themselves when she gave birth to another son, Patrick, of whom some would argue was more terrible to control than either of the twins. I can’t weigh in on this one because I never had to keep any of them, but Patrick and our son, Jason, became best of friends.
Of the couples in our original card club, two found the stresses of marriage, work, child rearing, and an active social life more than they were willing to endure together. First the Huddlestons threw in the proverbial towel then the Maxeys. Eventually, each divorced spouse found someone else to cherish within the bonds of matrimony. For Judy, her second marriage was a short-lived one, and, at its dissolution, she took back her name from her first marriage.
For the better part of twenty years, Judy battled cancer. The battle left her a mere shell of her former self, emaciated, and fragile. Fiercely independent, Judy spent this past year largely dependent on others to care for her.
Her youngest son, Patrick, became her primary caregiver as her health deteriorated and she needed a family member to act on her behalf. Patrick did an admirable job seeing that his mom was cared for in hospitals, assisted living facilities, and finally nursing homes.
Shortly before dawn on Sunday, September 25, 2011, Judy Johnson Maxey slipped quietly across the divide that separates the physical world and the spiritual world and into a realm where she now abides in the light of the Living Lamb.
I shall truly miss my friend Judy. I know she must have struggled with that great question, “Why me” when adversity struck her, but she handled pain and sorrow with dignity and a sense of purpose. While it’s been several months since I last saw her, she was then the same friendly and cheerful individual I had grown to appreciate years earlier.
Gladly, I can say that which separates us today is but temporary. I cannot visit her nor can she visit me, but one day I’ll see her again, not as she appeared when last I saw her but in a glorified body that will never grow old or suffer the ravages of disease. Goodbye, until we meet again, Judy… until we meet again.
